Korea records the world’s highest COVID-19 cases per million

Between piling studies about hazards of tobacco and growing disdain for smoking, controversy rises over smokers’ right to light up in peace

With a single photo and 30 seconds of voice data, anybody can create lifelike digital characters, says KLleon founder and CEO

Prosecutors will determine this week whether to suspend the prison term of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's wife, who was convicted of college admission fraud involving their daughter and financial misconduct, sources said Wednesday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office will hold a meeting Thursday to determine whether to grant a request by Cho's wife, Chung Kyung-sim, to suspend her four-year prison term for health reasons, according to the legal sources. Chung, a former pro

The justice ministry has proposed a law requiring convicted stalkers to wear electronic monitoring devices for up to 10 years, officials said Wednesday. The ministry unveiled the proposal in a pre-legislation notice. Currently, high-risk convicted murderers, sex offenders, burglars and child kidnappers are subject to the use of devices such as ankle bracelets, which use GPS technology to monitor the location of the person. The move comes amid a rising number of stalking-related crimes despite th

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases jumped to a four-month high on Wednesday following the extended weekend amid the continued spread of a highly contagious omicron subvariant. The country added 180,803 new COVID-19 infections, including 567 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 21,682,816, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It is the highest figure since April 13, when the daily tally came to 195,387 amid the worst virus wave. Wednesday's f

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases surged to an 18-week high of about 180,000 on Wednesday amid a new resurgence of the virus, a government official said. The number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients came to 469 with the daily death toll reaching 42, Kim Sung-ho, the head of the interior ministry's disaster management office, said during a government COVID-19 response meeting. "An increase in travelers in the summer vacation season and the recent extended Liberation Day holiday is expected t

The justice ministry on Tuesday announced four candidates shortlisted for the first prosecutor general of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. A special ministry committee recommended the four -- Yeo Hwan-seop, head of the Institute of Justice; Kim Hoo-gon, head of the High Prosecutors Offices; Lee Doo-bong, head of the Daejeon High Prosecutors Office; and Lee Won-seok, deputy chief prosecutor of the Supreme Prosecutors Office. Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon will pick and recommend one of them t

The following is a text version of the address given by Bill Gates to South Korea’s National Assembly on Tuesday, transcribed and loosely edited by The Korea Herald for clarity. -- Ed. It’s a great honor to be here. Thank you Speaker Kim (Jin-pyo) and all the members of the National Assembly for your invitation. During my trip to the Republic of Korea, one highlight is that I’ll sign a memorandum of understanding with the government to outline our work together on global h

Ministry backpedals on its plan to ban free wet tissues in restaurants; environmental impacts of reckless use kept out of discussion

Seoul has sustained the heaviest damage from the heavy downpour that has hit Korea over the past week, government officials said Tuesday. The torrential rain that hit the greater Seoul region last week moved to the southern coastal areas of Korea on Tuesday. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the southern coastal regions will receive up to 150 millimeters of rain through Wednesday. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the week of rain has flo

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Tuesday that it has officially embarked on developing the city‘s new slogan, which will replace the eight-year-old “I·SEOUL·U,” created under the mayorship of Park Won-soon. The city government said it has decided to change the slogan after the existing one has been widely criticized for lacking clarity. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also previously criticized his predecessor’s slogan for being incomprehensible and fo

The South Korean government on Tuesday said that the total number of critically ill COVID-19 patients will peak between 800 and 900 in early September. The government added the number of deaths from COVID-19 could also reach between 100 and 140 during the same period. The government, however, did not change its projection for the number of daily infections, which it previously anticipated to peak at around 200,000 cases in late-August. “The COVID-19 spread is expected to peak by the e

Police are reviewing strengthening support measures for stalking cases, including increasing the supply of smartwatches and directing greater manpower. According to the National Police Agency on Tuesday, 14,271 cases of stalking incidents were reported to the police from January through June this year. The figure is about 4.1 times higher than the 3,494 reports received during the same period last year. Illegal filming reports also increased to 3,240, a spike of over 50 percent from 2,140 case

Bill Gates on Tuesday said he hoped South Korea would take on a larger role in tackling global health threats to match the scale of its economy in a stronger partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-chairs. In a meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol at his office in central Seoul, Gates said that South Korea‘s growing contribution to global health and its capabilities made the country “a strong match” with the goals of the Gates Foundation. &ldquo